Western Collegiate Hockey Association
Minnesota lit the lamp just 25 seconds into the contest off the stick of Tony Lucia. |
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Minnesota Beats St. Cloud State on Last-Minute Goal to Advance to Final Five Semifinal Matchup With Colorado College
March 20, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The opening game of the 2008 Red Baron Final Five proved to be a thriller.
Minnesota scored in the opening 25 seconds and again with 12.7 seconds left game en route to a 3-2 victory over St. Cloud State in front of a sellout crowd of 19,232 at Xcel Energy Center. The Golden Gophers advance to tomorrow's semifinal vs. top-seeded Colorado College at 7:07 p.m.
Mike Howe scored the game-winner off a rebound from the end wall. The initial shot was taken by Derek Peltier through traffic from the blue line.
"I was hanging around the net to be there for a rebound and that's exactly what happened," said Howe. "The puck came right to my stick, and I tapped it in."
Minnesota lit the lamp just 25 seconds into the contest off the stick of Tony Lucia. The left winger redirected a pass from Evan Kaufmann at the left point past St. Cloud goalie Jase Weslosky.
The Huskies answered just seven minutes later as Garrett Raboin and Ryan Lasch worked a give-and-go play to perfection during a 4-on-3 power play. The goal was the second of Raboin's career, and Aaron Brocklehurst also picked up an assist.
UM regained the lead 4:35 into period two by capitalizing on a 5-on-3 power play. Blake Wheeler slammed home a rebound from a Kaufmann shot. The play was set up as Cade Fairchild's shot from the slot glanced off the pipe directly to Kaufmann in the left circle.
The Huskies knotted the game at 15:34 as Lasch skated the puck deep into the Gopher end before sending a pass across the crease. Tony Mosey tapped the shot into the open net.
SCSU killed off a penalty with just over three minutes to play, but Minnesota kept the pressure on to get the game-winner.
Gopher coach Don Lucia was proud of his team's game. "The first goal was critical. We were able to play with the lead. We've won a lot of close games lately, and that's a credit to our seniors and our whole team"
The teams combined for 17 penalties for 34 minutes. St. Cloud, which entered the contest ranked second in the nation on the power play, converted 1-of-7 opportunities. UM was 1-of-5 on the man advantage.
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"Lots of credit goes to Minnesota," said Huskies ice boss Bob Motzko. "They came out with a lot of energy, and I thought (Alex) Kangas was outstanding in net."
Kangas finished with 25 saves to improve to 11-8-9 on the season. Weslosky (16-12-2) made 26 saves on 29 Gopher shots.
Minnesota's game with Colorado College tomorrow will follow the first semifinal between North Dakota and Denver.
Note: Tonight's attendance bested the old record of 16,449 set last year.
